Cat Country 107.3http://catcountry1073.com
South Jersey's Country Radio StationFri, 09 Dec 2016 16:02:51 +0000en-UShourly1http://catcountry1073.production.townsquareblogs.com/files/2011/10/logo.pngCat Country 107.3http://catcountry1073.com
How to Make Facebook Year in Review Video 2016http://catcountry1073.com/how-to-make-facebook-year-in-review-video-2016/
http://catcountry1073.com/how-to-make-facebook-year-in-review-video-2016/#commentsFri, 09 Dec 2016 01:00:49 +0000http://943thepoint.com/?p=444114Facebook

It’s time for the annual montages to make the rounds on Facebook with the adorable ‘Year in Review’ videos now available.

For some people.

To make yours, head to facebook.com/yearinreview (or watch someone else’s video, and at the end you’ll see a link that says “Get yours.”)

Unfortunately, Facebook seems to be struggling to keep up with the demand, because when some people try to make theirs they see this:

Laurie Cataldo

Womp womp. Don’t worry, I got the same error.

You can either be patient, and wait for Zuck’s team to get their act together, or try to upload some new photos and videos and see if that kickstarts the Year in Review videomaker for you.

John Glenn, who in 1962 became the first American to orbit Earth, died at a hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He was 95 years old.

Glenn was also a four-term senator for his home state of Ohio, whose governor, John Kasich, issued the following statement:

John Glenn is, and always will be, Ohio’s ultimate hometown hero, and his passing today is an occasion for all of us to grieve. As we bow our heads and share our grief with his beloved wife, Annie, we must also turn to the skies, to salute his remarkable journeys and his long years of service to our state and nation.

Though he soared deep into space and to the heights of Capitol Hill, his heart never strayed from his steadfast Ohio roots. Godspeed, John Glenn!

Glenn was a colonel in the Marine Corps, for whom he flew missions in World War II and the Korean War. In 1998, his last year in the Senate, Glenn returned to space as a member of the shuttle Discovery, becoming the oldest astronaut ever at age 77.

He is considered a genuine American hero for his remarkable achievements and legacy. He was married for 73 years to his wife, Annie, who survives.

Shoppers at a Walmart near Jacksonville, Fla., received an early Christmas gift from Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. The country couple played secret Santa, covering $5,000 in layaway bills!

The gifts came through McGraw’s mother Betty Trimble, according to television station WJAX. She paid off outstanding layaway purchases, and in some cases, handed out cards with cash inside. A shopper named Jessica Lumpkin was surprised by her card, but happy to follow a request to buy her daughter something nice.

Trimble lives near the Macclenny, Fla., Walmart. Few details on why the couple chose this store or opened their wallets at all were made available, and the stars haven’t commented publicly. A card reading “Merry Christmas, Tim McGraw + Faith Hill and Family” is all shoppers received, along with a receipt showing that their layaway charges have been covered.

News of the gifts comes as McGraw got his own on Tuesday (Dec. 6). His song “Humble and Kind” was nominated for a Grammy the same day the family celebrated daughter Audrey’s 15th birthday.

This isn’t the first time he and Hill have quietly gifted a fan or stranger. In October, a 94-year-old superfan named Mary learned she was getting sweet seats for an April 20 concert in South Carolina. A medical issue kept her from McGraw’s last nearby concert. Her granddaughter’s appeal on Facebook was noticed by his team, and she got a message learning this news.

]]>http://catcountry1073.com/tim-mcgraw-faith-hill-pay-layaway-bills-walmart/feed/0Miranda Lambert Announced as Third Headliner at Taste of Country Music Festivalhttp://catcountry1073.com/miranda-lambert-announced-as-third-headliner-at-taste-of-country-music-festival/
http://catcountry1073.com/miranda-lambert-announced-as-third-headliner-at-taste-of-country-music-festival/#commentsThu, 08 Dec 2016 16:00:52 +0000http://catcountry1073.com/?p=339597

Taste of Country Music Festival ended the wait to reveal its third headliner for its 2017 festival on Thursday, announcing that superstar Miranda Lambert will take the stage!

Lambert, the seven-time winner of the Academy of Country Music’s Female Vocalist of the Year award, joins Jason Aldean and Sam Hunt as headliners for the fifth-annual festival, which is June 7-9, 2017, in Hunter Mountain, N.Y.

The festival also announced the addition of country stars Chris Young, Kip Moore, Tyler Farr and Maren Morris to its 2017 lineup.

In 2015 Lambert became the first woman to win the Country Music Association’s award for Album of the Year twice. Between the CMAs and ACMs, Lambert has 36 total awards, with another two wins at the GRAMMYs.

Lambert’s latest album, The Weight of These Wings, was released in November to major critical acclaim. Rolling Stone named the album one of its 50 best of 2016.

Young has been one of country music’s fastest-rising stars since he hit the scene in 2009. He has since released seven singles to reach No. 1 on the charts and his latest album, I’m Comin’ Over, hit No. 1 on the Top Country Albums and No. 5 on the Top 200 charts on Billboard.

Moore and Farr are two more names who are not strangers in country music. Moore was nominated for New Artist of the Year by the ACMs and CMAs and his 2011 hit, “Somethin’ About a Truck,” was one of the biggest songs of the year.

Farr broke out in 2013 with the release of his single, “Redneck Crazy,” and he followed up with two more hits in “Whiskey in My Water” and “A Guy Walks Into a Bar.”

Morris has been one of the hottest names in country music in 2016, recently winning the CMA Award for New Artist of the Year. Her hit, “My Church,” launched her into stardom and recently was certified Platinum.

We hope you join all of us from Cat Country at the 2017 Taste of Country Music Festival to see all these artists plus more to come. Be sure to follow us on-air, right here on our website and our social media channels to keep up with the latest news, contests and more for Taste of Country Music Festival.

All ticket levels and campsites are on sale for Taste of Country Music Festival 2017, so click here to secure your spot and we’ll see you on The Mountain!

Miranda Lambert: ‘Vice’

More from Cat Country 107.3:

Sign up for the Cat Country 107.3 Newsletter

Get the best of Cat Country delivered to your inbox every week.

Email

]]>http://catcountry1073.com/miranda-lambert-announced-as-third-headliner-at-taste-of-country-music-festival/feed/0Spot the Differences and Win 6 Pair Of 2017 Concert Tickets! [VIDEO]http://catcountry1073.com/spot-the-difference-and-win-6-pair-of-2017-concert-tickets-video/
http://catcountry1073.com/spot-the-difference-and-win-6-pair-of-2017-concert-tickets-video/#commentsThu, 08 Dec 2016 09:47:59 +0000http://catcountry1073.com/?p=339763Here’s your chance to win a pair of tickets to 6 different South Jersey area country concerts in 2017!

In the video below, we take you through my office 2 different times. Watch it and see if you can spot the 5 differences! Then, fill out the entry form.

If you get them all correct, you will be entered in the Grand Prize Drawing to win the 6 pair of concert tickets!

Cat Country's Can You Spot the Difference?

Correctly identify the 5 differences in the 2 videos and enter them in the form below. We'll draw 1 random winner from all those with the correct answers on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2017.
Good luck!

Willie Nelson has experienced a lot of life in his 83 years, and the singer recently shared some important advice with Great Big Stories. His first tip? Don’t be an … actually, we’ll let him tell you in the clip above.

“You can go right into the golden rule — treat people like the way you’d like to be treated,” he shares during an interview on his tour bus, spliced with animated footage of the red-haired singer being bullied as a child.

He says being true to yourself is all-important.

“I think you have to follow your feelings, do what your conscience tells you to do. If you feel like you can do anything, whether it’s this cause or that cause, I think you’re obligated to do it,” he notes. “I feel like we’re all responsible for each other. If you see somebody who needs help, you help them. If you see someone’s cow in a ditch you help them pull it out.”

Nelson concedes that he likes to think every person tries to be as good an example as they can be to others, whether it’s for their kids or the rest of the world. Nelson himself sets this example, as he never shies away from causes he believes in like his annual Farm Aid concerts, which benefit local family farmers.

The singer postponed two concerts in November, citing an undisclosed illness. He shows no sign of slowing down, though, as he released a tribute album to Ray Price, For the Good Times, in September. He also appeared in the CMA 50th anniversary tribute Forever Country, which featured his song “On the Road Again.”

]]>http://catcountry1073.com/willie-nelson-advice-great-big-stories/feed/0Slaven Vlasic, Getty ImagesA New Push to Regulate and License Musicians on the Ocean City Boardwalkhttp://catcountry1073.com/a-new-push-to-regulate-and-license-musicians-on-the-ocean-city-boardwalk/
http://catcountry1073.com/a-new-push-to-regulate-and-license-musicians-on-the-ocean-city-boardwalk/#commentsWed, 07 Dec 2016 21:22:26 +0000http://catcountry1073.com/?p=339777Ocean City’s city council is set to consider a measure that would heavily regulate and license where people can open-up a guitar case and start strumming for tips on the city’s boardwalk.

Shore News Today reports the measure would require boardwalk musicians to fork-over $25 to apply for a license, be fingerprinted (for another fee), possibly undergo a criminal background check, and then pay another $50 annual fee for the license. Boardwalk musicians would be limited to performing only on certain blocks, they would be assigned a spot, they could only perform on the ocean side, and within 4 feet of the railing. Beyond that, the proposed ordinance would allow the city to decide what kind of entertainment there could be and how many performances there could be per location and at what times. Of course, a person’s performance license could be suspended or revoked if they don’t follow the rules, they could be fined up to $2,000, and an appeals process would also be developed.

Ocean City Boardwalk – Photo: Chris Coleman/Townsquare Media

Holy cow! All this so someone can play “Stairway to Heaven” on an accordion across from a fudge shop.

I have been visiting the Ocean City Boardwalk for as long as I’ve been alive, but it wasn’t until this past summer that I noticed people were playing music for tips on the boardwalk. And, to be honest, it didn’t feel right — the vibe of the Ocean City Boardwalk didn’t seem to match the indie-musical artist scene that comes with people playing music for tips. But, on the other hand, heavily regulating a 20-something-year-old trumpet player and threatening him or her with a $2,000 fine so they can make $20 seems to be a little extreme.

Regardless, if you wish to voice your opinion one way or another, you are encouraged to stop by City Hall this Thursday evening at 7:00 to state your case in front of the city’s leaders.

Lauren Alaina’s much-anticipated new album, Road Less Traveled, will officially be available in January.

After a long break that included vocal cord surgery and three-and-a-half years of honing her craft, Alaina says she couldn’t be more excited to release this collection of songs into the world.

“These songs are a true representation of who I am, where I’ve been and where I’m going,” she explains in a news release. “This album has pushed me to accept who I am and be 100% honest about it. Road Less Traveled is truly me. I can’t wait to share my stories, my music and myself with the world.”

The 12-track album features the title track (co-written by Alaina, Jesse Frasure and pop singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor), which served as its lead-off single. The song is an anthem declaring the importance of accepting and embracing who you are, inspired by a particularly dark period in her life as she fought bulimia and dealt with her parents’ divorce and father’s alcoholism.

It’s the holidays, and everyone’s out and about, being merry! Let’s take a moment to recognize South Jersey’s best bartenders!

Let us know which bartender is your favorite, where they work, and why they’re the best!

After the nomination round, we’ll pick the 5 best for a final vote!

Nominations will be accepted until 11:59pm, Thursday, December 14th. The final round of voting will be the weekend of December 15th.

Who's Your Favorite South Jersey Bartender?

It's the holidays, and everyone's out and about, being merry! Let's take a moment to recognize South Jersey's best bartenders!

Bartender's Name*

FirstLast

Where Do They Bartend?*

Why Are They Your Favorite?*

More From Cat Country 107.3:

Sign up for the Cat Country 107.3 Newsletter

Get the best of Cat Country delivered to your inbox every week.

Email

]]>http://catcountry1073.com/whos-your-favorite-south-jersey-bartender/feed/0JupiterimagesDustin Lynch Drops 'Seein' Red' Music Videohttp://catcountry1073.com/dustin-lynch-drops-seein-red-music-video/
http://catcountry1073.com/dustin-lynch-drops-seein-red-music-video/#commentsWed, 07 Dec 2016 01:00:00 +0000http://theboot.com/?p=160266Dustin Lynch has released a music video for his song "Seein' Red."]]>

Dustin Lynch‘s guitar-driven single “Seein’ Red” now has a music video to match. Readers can press play above to watch the new clip.

Directed by Adam Rothlein, Lynch’s “Seein’ Red” music video features the singer and his band performing the single in an all-white room … well, at least until the very end.

“I really put a lot of time in to dreaming up how to capture the energy and sexiness that “Seein’ Red” is,” Lynch tells ET. “Adam Rothlein came up with the idea of us ‘battling / performing’ to a flashback or fantasy that escalates in to us being completely consumed by it, and I knew this was the perfect fit to bring this song to life.”

As Lynch and his band play, one wall of the room — the wall they’re facing — features video snippets of Lynch getting cozy with model Yoli Lara. Just before the final chorus begins, she blows the artist a kiss — and the whole room is drenched in an explosion of red powder.

“The only thing I was able to salvage were my boots, and they went from being solid black to now having some red highlights,” Lynch shares. “Everything else, our clothes and most of our gear, we preserved and are going to do some cool things for charity with them.”

Thomas Rhett is bringing the country to New Year’s Eve in New York City. The “Star of the Show” singer has been tapped to perform on the famed Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest special on Dec. 31.

Rhett will grace the Times Square stage alongside headliner Mariah Carey, Gloria Estefan, cast members from the Broadway musical On Your Feet! and pop-rock band DNCE. Host Ryan Seacrest will be joined again by co-host and actress Jenny McCarthy. “Big Girls Don’t Cry” singer Fergie will take the lead in Los Angeles at Billboard’s Hollywood Party.

2017 is shaping up to be a busy year for the young singer, who won Single of the Year for “Die a Happy Man” at the 2016 CMA Awards. He will embark on his first headlining tour, the Home Team Tour, along with Kelsea Ballerini, Ryan Hurd and Russell Dickerson. The tour launches on Feb. 23 and continues through March, concluding with two shows at Nashville’s Ascend Ampitheater. He was recently announced as one of the headliners for Country Jam 2017 in Colorado in June, where he’ll join fellow headliners Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, Justin Moore and Randy Houser. His current single “Star of the Show” serves as the fifth single off his chart-topping album, Tangled Up.

Kelsea Ballerini will head into 2017 with a new look. The blonde beauty recently cut off her signature locks and shared with fans on social media.

“Change is fun. Thanks to my girl Ali and @thedryhousenashville,” Ballerini writes alongside an Instagram photo which shows her beaming, chopped locks sitting just on her shoulders.

Fans following the “Yeah Boy” singer on Snapchat got an early reveal. Ballerini explains that she decided to cut her long locks because she wanted to “get my hair strong and healthy again.”

Ballerini joins the trend of shorter hairstyles on country singers like Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert and RaeLynn. A shorter ‘do will likely make it a little easier for the singer to get ready for her headlining tour each night. Currently on the road for her first headlining tour, Ballerini’s The First Time Tour runs through Dec. 10.

In an interview with Taste of Country at her Atlanta tour stop, Ballerini gushed about finally being the name in the big letters on top of the marquee.

“It’s a different kind of energy because you feel like you know the people in the room,” she says. “It’s this really comfortable feeling because most of the people in the room are people just like me. It’s cool to be able to know that going into it because it makes it easier for me to sing my songs in there and know they’re going to have fun.”

Even more fun for Ballerini is the fans that come to her tour bus night after night to take pictures and chat with her. Now, they’ll also be admiring her new hairstyle.

Atlantic City’s casino workers just can not catch a break! Not only do locals in the casino industry have to worry about casino closings and gaming competition from other states, they also have to work a lot harder to keep their “work-love balance “, according to a new study.

Using data on divorce rates and job stress, CheatSheet.com created a list of careers that make the work-love life balance a lot harder.

The site explains simply that casinos (for the most part) are opened every single day of the year, 24 hours a day. Employees at these establishments often find themselves working odd shifts and even holidays.

Additionally, casino workers are constantly surrounded by alcohol, gambling and other temptations, which can also lead to stress in a relationship.

“A 2010 study of Census data published by the Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology found that gaming services workers had one of the highest divorce rates relative to other occupations. With a divorce rate of 31.4% (34.7% for gaming cage workers), this is exceptionally high when compared to the roughly 16% of Americans across all occupations who had been divorced or separated at the time of the data collection. And, to top it all off, gaming services workers are only paid a median salary of around $27,000 per year, per estimates.”

Other jobs that put stress on relationships include, massage therapists, waiter or bartender, and an athlete or entertainer.

Read even more on the reasons behind these ‘high stressed’ jobs, here.

When Brad Paisley hits the road, he does it in style. The artist showed legendary late night host Jay Leno around his tour bus for Leno’s car show on CNBC, Jay Leno’s Garage, and it’s amazing.

Paisley says he modeled the bus after a 1958 Corvette, and it’s clear to see — down to the last detail. Whether it’s the hubcaps and paint job on the exterior or custom leather seats and sleek decor on the interior, Paisley spared no expense to bring his dream car to life in a tour bus.

“We wanted it to be fun,” he tells Leno in the feature.

Paisley and Leno sat in the $1.74 million vehicle and discussed their mutual love of cars, starting with the first car Paisley ever owned. In high school, the artist was already playing small shows around town, and he was able to save up enough to get his own car.

“I would get a couple hundred bucks every time. And before long I had $3,000 and bought my [1984] Chevy Cavalier,” he recalls.

But the first one he adored was his first Corvette — a 1999 C5. He and Leno agreed that the model was a milestone for the company, marking the year it really began the journey to becoming what it is today.

“They realized what they have here. Which is to me the most iconic American automobile. It just really is the flagship for our country,” Paisey says.

Fans can check out the inside of the tour bus in the video clip above.

Kane Brown has just released his full-length debut album, and he’s poised to potentially become one of the breakthrough young acts in country music. But in a new interview, the singer shares the details of a very difficult and painful childhood, saying he hopes to be a role model.

The 23-year-old singer recently shared a new song, “Learning,” in which he opens up about a childhood that included abuse. He tells Nashville’s Tennessean newspaper that along with violence, he experienced racism and periods of homelessness in his younger years.

Brown is biracial, and he admits that growing up in Georgia, he was often the subject of racial slurs from his classmates.

“Color does matter, even though people don’t see it,” he says. “I’ve lived it my whole life. It’s just what I know.”

Calling himself a “poor kid,” Brown says he and his mother sometimes lived in a car when they had no other place to go, while they alternately stayed with his grandparents or moved around between friends’ houses when things were tough. He grew up listening to country radio, and after he attended his first concert — a show with Chris Young and Brad Paisley — he became determined to become a country singer himself. His performance at a high school talent show began with racial taunts from his classmates, and ended with them asking him for an encore.

The singer built his success by posting covers of classic country songs on Facebook, and his genuine country voice helped him amass a huge following online, which he parlayed into a record deal. Country radio has been slower to get on board, but Brown is hopeful that the same determination that has carried him this far will help him to overcome whatever other obstacles are still standing in his way. His latest single is “Thunder in the Rain.”

“I just feel like I have a chance to be a role model now,” he says, adding that all he really wants is for people to look past his color, his piercings and tattoos and give him a chance.

“I just want people to know that I’m a good person, and I’m not a thug like everybody thinks I am,” Brown states. “I feel like I have my loved ones, but I have a lot of haters, too.”

Bill and Ryan Kloos of East Brunswick took off work and college to decorate their house for the TV competition special!

But this isn’t the first time the Kloos house has been decorated for the holidays. Bill started way back when he was just 10 years-old. He used just a few strands of light that first Christmas season. It’s grown quite large over the last several years. So big that the town has cut off traffic through their cul-de-sac. You have to walk up to the property weeknights between 7pm and 10pm.

The Kloos brothers will be pitted against a family in Arizona with an emoji themed holiday light display. The winner gets $50,000!

But it’s not about the money, if fact the Kloos have donated over $35,000 for various charities over the last 8 years.

This year, after seeing his photo on Facebook, the brothers are dedicating the donation box on the west side of the driveway to Trent Powers, a 2-year-old boy in Helmetta who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
“We do it because we like to bring the community together,” Bill Kloos says of the show. And the brothers have always felt the love, even when everything wasn’t so awash in Christmas cheer. In 2014, after their donation box was stolen, local business pitched in $1,000 to $5,000 each to make up for the loss.

The Kloos episode of ‘The Great Christmas Light Fight’ airs tonight beginning at 8pm on ABC.

Our goal this month is to make the holiday season a little brighter for a local child in need. We’ve joined forces with the U.S. Marine Corps to collect new, unwrapped toys to be distributed through the Toys for Tots program, and there are plenty of donation locations in your area!

A trailer for The Shack, an upcoming movie starring Tim McGraw, has been released, and not only will country fans get their first glimpse of McGraw’s character in the film, they’ll also get to hear a new duet from McGraw and his wife Faith Hill.

Readers can press play above to watch the official The Shack trailer. The movie is based on the 2007 New York Times bestselling novel of the same name by William Paul Young, which tells the story of Mack Phillips (Sam Worthington)’s spiritual journey. Following a family tragedy, Phillips begins questioning his beliefs and faces a crisis of faith — but a mysterious letter leads him to an abandoned shack in the Oregon wilderness, where he meets a trio of strangers, including Papa (Octavia Spencer), who help him make sense of what’s happened. According to IMBD, McGraw plays a character named Willie.

But perhaps even more exciting for country fans is the fact that The Shack‘s trailer features a new duet written and performed by McGraw and Hill, called “Keep Your Eyes on Me.” Although readers will only get to hear a snippet of the tune for now, the song will be featured on the film’s soundtrack.

The Shack is set for release on March 3. Previously, McGraw has appeared in a number of movies, including Friday Night Lights and The Blind Side, but he says that he has no plans of leaving country music to pursue acting full time.

“I’ll always be a singer. That’s what I do,” the singer maintains. “I wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity to be in a movie if I hadn’t been a singer. I don’t think anybody was going to pluck me out of the streets and say, ‘Hey, come be in my movie.’ Music’s brought all of that to me.”

McGraw and Hill, who recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary, will be hitting the road in 2017 for a co-headlining tour.

Brett Eldredge is the king of holiday spirit this year. Whether you’re listening to his new Christmas album, Glow, watching his Snapchat adventures as he decorates his family’s Christmas tree or are catching him live in concert, he exudes a contagious energy.

His passion for artists like Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Dean Martin is apparent, as well — so much so that his holiday album is a throwback to the great crooners before him. To celebrate that release, Eldredge hosted his own Christmas concert in Las Vegas. Glow: An Evening With Brett Eldredge premiered on Nov. 25 on the Audience Network and featured the singer playing each of the tracks off his new holiday album, including a soulful rendition of “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” complete with a big band behind him.

“Bringing a Christmas record like this to Vegas is something I’ve been waiting to do my whole life,” Eldredge shares in a press release. “These songs were meant to be sung in a place like this, a place where Dean Martin himself performed.”

“I’ve been inspired for this record from a very young age,” he says of Glow. “I dreamt of the day I could record all these classic songs that I’ve loved since I was a little kid.”